President Joe Biden said Friday that he will commute the sentences of nearly a dozen people who have been serving “disproportionally long” prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses.
These individuals, President Biden said, “would have been eligible to receive significantly lower sentences if they were charged with the same offense today.”
The president will also sign a proclamation to pardon certain marijuana offenses, building on action he took in October 2022 to pardon thousands of Americans who were convicted of simple marijuana possession.
This expanded pardon proclamation, like its predecessor, only applies to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The White House said explicitly it “does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense.”…
